The 'real world' that Mr. King wants people to have experience in, is the real world of corporate management.
The irony is that if an academic were to spend more time in the world of the hourly worker in a factory or at McDonalds, they'd be more to the left than they already are!! This is why the 'right' was outraged by the choice of Barbara Ehrenreich's book 'Nickel and Dimed' as the summer reading choice for college bound students at ????(a university in the Southeast). It's the point of view of the corporate manager that counts and not the viewpoint of the worker.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13